Born of hope

[Rhugga II]

A couple of things:

The thing that really bothered me about these two fan films - and I like almost everything else about them - was their adherence to Jackson's style. Not just costumes, but music, narration, conception, etc. Even Guillermo del Toro has said he plans to redesign certain elements of Jackson's creation (Wood Elves, Wargs, and Goblins). In Born of Hope the Troll is extremely similar to Jackson's Cave Troll and the Orcs in both are very similar to the Jackson concept. Granted, much of Jackson is derivative of Lee and Howe, but there are other ways to go. I am glad that del Toro plans to bring Hellboy creator Mike Mignola on as a concept artist. In the future, fan films could use some more stylistic originality.

Also, the map in Born of Hope is very close to the old Middle Earth Role Playing Rhudaur map . And, I think you can see Cameth Brin, "The Twisted Hill" and capital of Rhudaur, in the film.

Lastly, wasn't there a First Age fan film that was getting hype a few years back?